The present invention relates to seating systems in general, and in particular, it relates to a seating system of the type in which seats are arranged in rows and ganged together as a unit. There has been a need in industry for seating of this type which provides the comfort and room of individual seats, insures that the seating is maintained in a straight row, yet which is easily and quickly folded and transported for storage, assuming a minimum space in the stored condition. Although such a need has existed for some time, attempts to fill all of these requirements have met with little or no commercial acceptance.
According to the present invention, a side-folding frame is provided from a plurality of tubular frame members. These individual frame members are twice-bent into a general U-shape. They alternately form front and rear portions of the frame, and are connected together by means of a coupling which limits rotation of the frame members in the use position. Thus, the frame members alternately form front and rear legs for the seating, and in the use position all of the front legs are inclined uniformly toward one side of a row and all rear legs are similarly inclined, but toward the other side of the row, thereby forming a zig-zag pattern when viewed from the front or rear. Because each of the individual U-shaped frame members is substantially coplanar, when the frame is folded for storage, the members are folded to a side-by-side relation, and become very compact.
Individual seats extend between and are supported by the upper horizontal portions of the connected frame members. Preferably, the seating is in the form of individual seats which are hinged at one side to the frame. Thus, for storage, the seats are rotated vertically and next within each other for minimum storage space. The seats of the preferred embodiment interlock with one another for stability, both in the use position and in the storage position. A dolly may be used to fold the seating and transport it to and from storage.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied by the attached drawing wherein identical reference numerals will refer to like parts in the various views .